Claude Julien’s Bruins Not Getting Ahead Of Themselves With 2-0 Series Lead Over Penguins

BOSTON (CBS) — The Boston Bruins know first-hand that no lead is ever safe, a bit of knowledge they’ve gained from being on both sides of blown leads. Just this season, the Bruins nearly blew their 3-1 series lead over Toronto before climbing all the way back from a 4-1 deficit in Game 7 to miraculously advance to the second round.

Since that win, the Bruins have been remarkably businesslike, and after a 6-1 win in Game 2 that earned them a 2-0 series lead over the heavily favored Penguins, don’t expect that to change.

“Well it’s pretty simple. We were in that situation before and we were able to come back in the series and win it,” head coach Claude Julien said. “We’ve been through enough positives and negatives to not get ahead of ourselves, and we know this is a good team. And I’m not saying it; we know it. The Penguins are a good team, they’re deep, and we’re going to have to continue to play extremely well if we plan on winning this series.”

Patrice Bergeron, who scored a goal, assisted on another and was a plus-3 on the night while winning 67 percent of his faceoffs, said the Bruins know they can’t afford to let off the gas pedal at all going forward.

“Tonight was the way we need to play in order to have success,” Bergeron said. “They have a lot of experience. They’re a team that, we know they’re going to try to bounce back, and we need to make sure we’re ready. They’re a really good team and we respect them and we know it’s not over, so we need to make sure we keep going, take it a game at a time and stay in the moment. … It’s all about Game 3 now.”

While the Bruins are all aware of the potential perils of getting too far ahead of themselves while thinking of a series victory, a 2-0 lead is still the position they’d prefer to be in.

“I’m not concerned about being up 2-0,” Julien said. “Any time you can leave a visiting building up 2-0, you gotta be happy.”